In case you did not hear

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Today's events

It was spring cleaning day today..... sort of.

By that I mean that Sari spent most of the day in the yard cleaning things up from the winter mess.... I spent the day in my garage cleaning up my motorcycle and getting it ready to go (checking all the fluids, cleaning it up, lubricating things, etc).... Megan and her buddy Shana spent the day cleaning up our snacks and watching TV..... and Katelyn..... well who knows what Katelyn was doing because she is not here and does not seem to be communicating with us anymore (she is in Ontario with her boyfriend's family).

It has been a nice "Spring is almost here" day!

Quick Update/Random Thoughts

It has been a while since I have written anything so here, in no particular order, are some random updates.....

1.  My sister got married last weekend.  I will not post pictures of that yet (she has not done so yet, so I will wait) however I did get to drive the groom's truck from the church building to the reception.  Rule #1 of getting married..... NEVER GIVE YOUR TRUCK KEYS TO ANYONE!!!

Megan, Katie and I filled their truck with balloons (Sari was being "wedding photographer" with the couple so she did not get to participate in the fun).  We filled it so full that you could hardly close the doors.  Pictures below are of the work in progress

Fortunately for me, I am not getting married again.  Unfortunately for the girls, their aunt has a long memory and a fine tune sense of "Pippus revenge".... we will wait and see what happens.  :)

2.  Katie got her university acceptance letter.  If you do not know the what, where and why of this, write to me privately and I will give you the details.  Needless to say, she is excited.  Her parents on the other hand are trying to be excited. 

3.  Megan is approximately a month away from getting her driver's license.  She has done most of her driving times with the instructor so soon she will be on the road.  The search for a car begins.

4.  Both girls made the honour roll in the first semester and their mid-term report cards came today.... they are doing well.

5.  Sari is leaving me.... a few times actually.  She is going to a conference in May and she is also going to go pick up a big chunk of money that is being donated to her school program.  Very nice!

6.  Spring is officially here..... I just watched an entire playoff hockey game including 3 periods of overtime.  I love the first round of the NHL playoffs.... even if the Leafs and almost every other Canadian team missed it.

7.  Tomorrow is "Spring check-up day" for my motorcycle.  If it ever stops snowing, I may even get to ride it a bit.

8.  I am looking forward to the workday at "Estevan Motor Speedway" on Saturday.  First race = May 3rd...... woo hoo!!!!  

9.  If you want to see something really disgusting, take the trap off of your kitchen sink drain.  Sari and Megs dropped a Popsicle stick down there today so I took ours apart..... ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh...... iiiiiccccckkkkkkkkkk!!!!  (Fill in your own details here).  I am not even sure how some of that stuff got down there.

10.  Life is good.  We are happy and content with our little life.  We are thankful and are trying to enjoy every day.  We don't always do that last part well.... but we do it more days than we don't.  We just saw my family and this weekend we get to be with Sari's folks..... and it is supposed to be warm sometime soon (I keep telling myself that anyway).  Life is good!

PS.  Now that things are starting to happen around here again, I am going to try to blog more regularly.  Please check back and comment..... it is way more fun if you comment.  Ok?  OK!  :)

Wisdom for today

I think I just found some birthday/Christmas presents!!!! :)

Hey y'all

I know I have not been a very active blogger lately and I intend for that to change.  Come back after the weekend (like April 7th or 8th or so) and we will get back at it.  In the meantime.....

Some of you may know of my "HATE" for all things cellphone.  I have to carry one so that people can find me when I am out of the office, but if I can leave the thing at home I do every chance I get.

That being said: This video makes a lot of sense to me. 

Wanna Learn Something?????

I (Tim) love stuff like this!!!  It is interesting to know the "why" behind the stuff that we experience all the time but take for granted (that is why I liked Physics in High School.... I DO want to know how fast the car is going when it hits the tree after it rolls down a hill that is 250 metres long with a slope of 35 degrees).

Ten minutes of learning - go!

Ps.  Can I be this dude???  I really wanna be this dude!  :)

And How did you Spend your Sunday Afternoon????

We spent it burning things down!!!!

Well, we really didn't burn anything..... our buddies Nathan and Melanie did.... and they did a good job of it.  They are cleaning up an old farm yard and one of the old homestead houses was run down and in the way.  So how do you get rid of it?????? 

Well........

 Some of the pictures turned out quite pretty.... like this one.....

And the girls thought it would be funny to take a couple of "selfies" as if they were at the coolest thing ever (which - in a way - it was)

 So here is what I have determined.......
   1.  It is no wonder house fires are so fatal.  You would have very little time to react
   2.  One hundred year old wood burns very hot!!!   Like really hot!!!
   3.  We have fun friends  :)

So there you go.  Move to Estevan.  It is a good time all the time.   :)  (No seriously.... it was!)

And you????????

We bought a huge bag of dog food today (For the record.... "yes" we have a dog...... so "no" this is not an announcement of our financial ruin). 

Every time I open a big bag of dog food and dump it into the "dog food tote", I think of Justin and Jen Mooney.

One time when we were hanging out at their place, they bought dog food.  Trying to be helpful, I offered to carry it in and dump it into their "tote".  I opened the one corner of the bag....  turned it over.... and watched as the entire top of the bag ripped open sending dog food everywhere.

And I mean everywhere!!!  It was all over the kitchen floor... under the stove.... behind the fridge.... I was standing in it up to my ankles..... In fact, I think the only place it did not go was into the tote.

I sometimes wonder if the people who live in that condo are still finding the odd bit of dog food in their kitchen.

And I always think of Jen and Justin when I open a new bag.

So.... what about you????  What has happened to you in the past that makes you think or act differently now?????  Respond in the comments section.

PS.  Here is one more from me:  When I go to the movies, I check for my wallet like 3469643674390 times (and not just because the girls are spending all my money.... ba dump bump!!!) but because once when I was a kid I was slouching on the seat and, somehow, my wallet slide out of my pocket and onto the floor (I forget how I got it back..... I think we had to go back and ask for it)..... anyway, now I am always very conscious of where my wallet is when I am at the movie..... but it only applies at the movies..... the rest of the time I don't think about it (Good thing I go to - like - 1 movie per year hey?)

Ok..... your turn.  Go!

How did that happen???

We have an extra adult in our home, as of today.

It is Katie's 18th birthday. 

I (Tim) told her recently that on the day she was born, I came home from the hospital and turned on the CD player in our house.  The first song that played was called, "God has smiled on me".  At the time, I thought "Man that is really true!".... and I still do (even more).

Happy Birthday Katelyn!!!!

A Happy Story

This story starts with a Christmas present..... a Keurig Elite coffee maker like this one....

All was happy in Keurig coffee land..... the girls loved the new machine and all the wonderful (?) brews it created.  (The "?" is there because I would dispute how wonderful most of the brews are.... who needs a "French Mocha Highland Italian blend Africana Brazilian influenced Frappuccino"????? All I want is coffee!  Hot coffee!!!)

After a year of bliss, the Keurig began to make strange sounds.... and then it just sat there and did nothing (Much like many husbands, right?  Bah.... ha.... ha...... As if I have not heard that one before).  :(

Anywho, Sari wrote a nice letter to the company pointing out that the machine was making sounds like an "Elephant Seal" (Seriously, she told them that) and that it was only making 1/2 a cup of coffee.

Within a day the company wrote back and said, "Your new machine is on its way - free of charge".  Five days later.... new machine..... free of charge.

So, the moral of this story is either.... (A) Keurig coffee machines only last a year and then die... (B) Keurig is a good company that responds quickly with great customer service and stands behind their product..... (C) None of this would have happened if we had just stuck with the old coffee maker that made 67489674589794576 cups of coffee for less than the cost of one box of 18 Keurig cups.

I think the answer is either "B" or "C"..... but since I am impressed with Keurig's response I will vote "B" (just this one time).  :)

So you want to have supper near the ocean????

Video from a restaurant in Santa Barbara, California. Crazy!

I am not sure who was more embarrassed

I come home tonight and go to change my clothes (stay with me here).

I grabbed a pair of jeans from my dresser drawer, put them on and thought, "What happened here?"

They were SUPER TIGHT!!!

So I think, "How could they have shrunk?  They are not new and they have been washed like 7869734867843 times".

I did up the button and then stuck my hands in my pockets.... but my hands would not go in.  WHAT?????

Then I realized it.........   I WAS WEARING MEGAN'S PANTS!!!!

Someone (likely me) folded them and tossed them in my basket in the laundry room.  I then put them in my dresser (without looking) and then I put them on today.

I gotta say..... they did not fit quite right everywhere.... but I thought I looked quite fetching in them.

Megan was HORRIFIED!!!  In fact, I think she took the pants and burned them (Unfortunately she will have a significantly harder time removing the image from her mind!)

And the good news......  my wardrobe just doubled (Maybe even tripled or more... Megan has way more clothes than I have).

Oooh...... maybe I can talk her into buying some pants with butterflies on them...... I like butterflies!!!!!  :)

Why it is wise to Listen to your Mother

(Editor's note:  If you see the word "motorcycle" and think "boring" and are tempted to move on.... please keep reading.  It is not as boring as it sounds).

With Sara and the girls gone for the weekend, I decided to turn the heat on in the garage and work on my old motorcycle (for those who don't know, I bought a 1983 Honda 1000 as a "winter project").

I have heard this bike run on 2 out of 4 cylinders (not a good thing) and it had a really loud knocking sound in the front of the engine. 

Concerned about that, I decided to do the logical thing and check the oil.  Pulled the dipstick.... no oil.  Like none.... none on the dipstick.... none to be seen in the hole.... none!

So I did the next logical thing..... I stuck my pinky in there.... still no oil.... could not touch anything.

Then I did the next semi-logical thing..... I stuck my index finger in there.  Now, it was sort of a tight fit mind you, but I shoved it in there anyway.

"Was there oil on my index finger?" you ask.

I had no idea because...... I COULD NOT GET MY FINGER OUT OF THE HOLE!!!!!!!

Seriously.... it was stuck in as far as it could go and it was not coming out.  I pulled.... nothing!  I twisted.... nothing.  I pulled really hard.... nothing.

Then I started to get a little worried.  I mean, if the blood was being restricted (which it was being such a tight fit and all) then my finger was going to swell and I was really going to have trouble getting it out.

Adding to the problem, I had placed the motorcycle by the overhead doors so that I could open them and get some fresh air if and when the bike started.  What this meant was that I was a long way from any sort of grease or oil that I could have put on my finger to lubricate it because all that stuff was on a shelf on the other side of the garage. 

By the way, the motorcycle weighs about 600 pounds and is hard enough to push around when I am standing up much less when I am hunched over with one finger in the oil filler hole.

Oh - and I hate carrying a cell phone (HATE IT!!!) so of course I did not have that on me so I could not call for help and the only other phone in the garage was across the room and on a shelf about 6 feet off the floor.

I began to think.... "I am in big trouble here!!!   No one is going to come looking for me until I miss church tomorrow morning because no one knows where I am.  Maybe they won't look in the garage and I will still be here when Sari and the girls get home tomorrow afternoon.  But by then I will have missed supper, my bedtime snack, breakfast and lunch...... who knows if I will still be alive??????  That would be an embarrassing way to die.  When the kids are asked, 'What happened to your dad?' they will have to say, 'Oh he stuck his finger in a motorcycle engine and starved to death'.  That is no where near as cool as 'He took a bullet trying to save the President' or something.  Poor kids!"

Then I did the next logical thing..... I PANICKED and YANKED my finger out as hard as I could.

My finger does not have quite as much skin on it now.  I lost some blood and it hurts a lot, but at least the girls will not have to find me dead in the garage.

"Don't stick your fingers where they don't belong!"   Good advice every mom has given their kids.... for good reason!

Sari in the Newspaper

Another short article about Sari, the work she is doing and the volunteers she is attracting to the school.  Similar article in the other paper here.

That seems about right :(

So earlier I was gloating that Tim Horton's was getting rid of "Cold Stone" in Canada (see post below) and now I read this.......

In an effort to eliminate items that do not sell well, Tim Horton's is deleting 24 items from its menu including Walnut Crunch Doughnuts.

WALNUT CRUNCH!!!!!   THAT IS ALL I EVER ORDER!!!!!!  D'OH!!!!!  WHY?????  WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAPPEN TO ME??????????

So I brag about losing Cold Stone and how Dairy Queen is so much better and this is how I get repaid??????  Super great then!!!  :(

Hey.... wait a minute.... come to think of it, this is not my fault..... it is YOURS!!!   The article said that Walnut Crunches were being eliminated because of lack of sales.... but I buy them all the time..... I am holding up my end of the bargain..... WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE??????

So - the only obvious solution is that since y'all owe me a bunch of Walnut Crunches y'all better start baking....... or go to your nearest Tim Horton's and buy all the Walnut Crunches you can (they said they would be available while supplies lasted).

I am emptying the freezer as we speak!!!

I am going to say it whether you like it or not!

Dairy Queen rules!!!!

There... I said it.

 Everyone around here is enamoured with "Cold Stone Creamery" but I like the way things used to be.... you know....  "old school" stuff.  Forget all these fancy, weird, "all loving no oven" things (That is an actual name of a Cold Stone something or another.  How can you order something when the name gives you no clue as to what you are getting????  It is ridiculous!!!!)

My mommy used to walk me 6 blocks to a DQ that looked something like this one.... and if it was good enough for my mommy it is good enough for me!  (Besides, NASCAR driver Tony Stewart LOVES Dairy Queen.... what more endorsement do you need than that?)

The battle is over though.  According to this article, Tim Horton's is pulling all Cold Stones from its Canadian stores.

Oh well!  No more paying $347690457905 for a little dish of ice cream.  :(

Bring on the Peanut Buster Parfaits!!!!!!!!   Woooooooooo!!!!!!

DQ..... DQ.......DQ...... DQ......D.... (Well, you get the idea)   :)

That was fun!

I like judging people!

What I mean is, I had a good time judging the "Royal Canadian Air Cadets speech competition" tonight.

It was really interesting.  Five kids got up and gave a 5 minute prepared speech and then we gave them a topic of our choice (the Olympics) for an impromptu 3 minute speech.  Each of them did very well and I actually learned a lot from listening to their prepared speeches (not so much from their impromptu ones).

The other two judges were teachers from Sari's school so that made it even more fun.

I don't know how you would ever get the gig (in fact, I hardly know how I got it) but if anyone ever asks you to judge a speaking competition for the Air Cadets - do it!

You may even get a bonus "Tim Horton's" card as a thank you.  :)

If we had a skyscraper in Estevan.........

From the website..... "A few weeks ago, daredevils Vadim Makharov and Ritaliy Raskalov were traveling through China. The intended pinnacle of their trip was to reach the top of the Shanghai Tower, a building only shorter than one other in the world. They planned their escapade to coincide with the Chinese new year, so that fewer people would be around and security would be lax. Sneaking into the building, which is still under construction, they climbed 120 stories on foot. At they top, they slept and waited for good weather. Then they clambered out to the very end of the crane that sits on the roof…"

Check it out........

Can We Agree that is Three Now????

On Tuesday we found out that we may have to spend a bunch of money on our SUV's transmission.

Last night, during Bible study, the city's sewer froze and backed up into the basement of the church building.  I was here until 10 pm cleaning that up.  The clean up and hassle continues today

Last night, after Megan had a shower, she left the lever on "shower" instead of "tub".  Not knowing that, when I turned on the water this morning, instead of it coming out of the tap, ice cold water shot out of the  shower head and sprayed all over me...... and I HATE ice cold water!!!

If bad things come in threes, can we call that three and be done?????  Thank you! 

Something to think About

 

The guy pictured about is named Steve Brynes. He is a NASCAR host/reporter. Even if you don't care about racing, read this article. His story and the insight he gained will be more than worth your time.